Dutiful Hearts
by HuaFeiHua
Summary: Momo was a princess, running home halfway through her studies abroad. Shoto was the little brother of a coffee shop owner, following her halfway across the world just to see her again. They both have a duty to fulfill, whether that be to her country, his sister's coffee shop, or their hearts.
1. and with a kiss

**Word Count:** 1,841

* * *

"Princess."

"What is it, Kyo?"

"You have a visitor."

Momo frowned slightly, then turned to face her best friend, the bodyguard Jirou Kyouka, standing in the doorway. "That's strange. I'm not expecting anyone."

Kyouka looked uneasy, which made Momo nervous. "Well, I hope your expectations aren't rising because it's probably _not_ anyone you'd be expecting. I told him to wait in a tea room."

 _"Him?"_ Momo cried, starting to panic now. "I already told my parents suitors were off the table now! I'm not ready to court anyone at the moment."

"Relax, Yaomomo," Kyouka assured her, slipping out of her professional persona for a moment. "He's not here for that."

"Then what _is_ he here for? And how do you _know_ he's not here for that? Do you know him?"

Kyouka looked to the side and pursed her lips. "Mmmmm that's classified information, m'lady," she said almost playfully.

Momo was very tempted to throw a pillow at her bodyguard, but alas, there were none in her study, so she settled for a sigh. She ejected herself from her desk and marched over to Kyouka. "Tell meeeee."

"You'll just have to find out for yourself, princess~" Kyouka half sang, half teased. "Just remember you can't run any further than home."

Momo furrowed her brow as she followed her friend to meet with this mystery man. "What are you talking about, Kyo?"

"Don't worry about it," the bodyguard easily replied, holding in a snicker as she held the door open for the princess. "I'll leave you to it. Try not to avoid this one."

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Momo said, partly to herself, but mostly to the door.

"Momo?" The girl in question froze at the sound of _his_ voice, the voice she hadn't heard in months now, not since she came back from studying abroad. "Is that really you?"

Momo couldn't even fake a smile, her expression was so deeply trapped in disbelief. She turned around slowly to face the one person she thought she'd never see again: Todoroki Shoto.

He was just sitting there with mismatched eyes wide as the moon, a cup of faintly steaming tea in his hand that honestly looked closer to getting dropped than to his mouth.

"Todoroki-san," she replied none too easily, her throat strangely dry. A hand, which had been clutching her arm, fell limply to her side. "You found me."

Immediately, Todoroki blinked and appeared to shy away from her. "I'm sorry, did you not want to see me?"

Momo sighed and made her way over to him. After all, it would be rude of her to tell him the truth: _"I'm sorry, I fell in love with you, got scared, and ran home without telling you because I was scared of you and your feelings, of myself and my feelings."_ That just simply wouldn't do, so instead she said, "No, no. It's fine. I… I just—"

He stared at her, concern written all over his once permanently expressionless face, as she struggled to choke out any combination of words that would make sense. He seemed to notice her struggling and so spoke up in her stead:

"You guys left without warning. Nobody knew where you went, so when I got the opportunity to come here I took it. I apologize if I frightened you."

Momo took a deep, calming breath, then let it out silently as she composed herself once again. With as much grace as her trembling legs would give her, she joined him by the window for tea.

To say the silence that followed was awkward was an understatement, to say the least.

"I'm sorry," Momo said at last, staring down at her untouched tea. There was a soft clicking of fine china as Todoroki put his cup down, rattling the table ever so slightly and forming ripples in her own. "I realized I was forgetting my duty as a princess to my country, distracted by studying abroad so I— I got scared. And I ran back home." She sighed, pushing, fighting the urge to blurt the truth right then and there. "Kyouka or I, one of us should have said something. About leaving, about who we were— it doesn't matter. I apologize for leaving you all so soon. I didn't think it would have affected you all so profoundly."

She could feel Todoroki staring at her intently, could sense the gears clicking and turning in his head as he processed the information, processed the sight before him. Allowed the fact to sink in that she, Momo Yaoyorozu, had lied to him.

She peeked up at him through her bangs.

He caught her gaze, then shifted away from her, sucking on the silver spoon given to him almost sheepishly as he averted his eyes. "I think it's more of a shock to find out you're a princess than to see you leave," he said, a little too aloof to be natural.

Momo allowed herself a wan smile. Her heart was aching; he didn't know, didn't realize it yet. She was just a few short months away from turning eighteen and becoming queen. "So, Todoroki-san," she said, feeling just well enough to take a tiny sip of her tea, "I suppose you have a valid reason for being here? The guards don't let just anyone in, you know."

"Ah," Todoroki said, letting the spoon slip from his mouth and fall into his hand. "Fuyumi-nee, you know all the connections she has, she sent me here with coffee for an old friend who works here, I think. Kyouka was the one who let me in, though."

 _That much seems true,_ Momo thought as she eyed the little paper bag sitting by his feet with the Todoroki name stamped upon its side. But not enough to get on a plane, and not enough to come see her without delivering it first. "I see," she said carefully, guilty that she would have to leave her tea unfinished. "It was nice seeing you, Todoroki-san."

She pretended not to notice how quickly he turned to look at her, focusing solely on excusing herself, when he spoke up again.

"Wait," was all, but she found herself frozen to the spot all the same. "There's more to it than just that."

To the beat of her heart, she wished it still, for she knew not if she could take it. To the sting in her eye, she wished it cease, for she wanted not to cry. To the hope in her soul, she wished it fade, for she desired nothing more than to move on. To be trapped in the past, ever-longing, always dreaming of a time gone by, she had seen what that did to a person.

"I have a duty to fulfill, not just to my sister, but to myself." _To my heart,_ she heard the words unspoken. Momo closed her eyes and held her breath, allowed her lashes to brush away her tears. "I—" Todoroki began, but he faltered, his breath stopping all at once. They both let it out, letting their feelings flutter fresh in their chests before he started anew.

"I like you," he said, and Momo would have given anything to be able to move again, to see his face as he told her. Was he crying too? There was that little something she had never heard in his voice before. "And it took time and losing you to know, and there's nothing that could ever come of my telling you, but I…" he trailed off, swallowed thickly, and continued valiantly on. "I had to in order to move on. So please, Momo." She could hear the pleading bleeding through the cracks in his voice. "Would you look at me again?"

She could hear his breathing through the silence, afraid to move from fear of snuffing it out. When at last she regained herself and turned to him, her head had sunk low, the tears her lashes had held back falling freely to her feet. She could hear his breath choke, but just barely, for it was overshadowed by the echoing _click-clack_ of her heels on the cold, tile floor.

His face was blurry when she looked at him again, but it wasn't for long anyway. Her eyes fell shut when she pulled him down by the collar of his shirt and smashed her lips against his, pouring her every repressed thought and emotion into the action. He stiffened against her, likely frightened by the touch, and there he remained for all of seven seconds as his silver spoon clattered to the floor. But just as she began to pull away, he picked up on the cue, leaning in and pushing back as if her kiss was all he needed to fall through a portal into her world.

(But he couldn't, that was impossible, he'd never be allowed into life in that way, not when every second of it had been so meticulously planned from the moment she was born.)

Oh, simple coffee shop boy.

Their tears mingled as they rolled down her cheeks, down her neck, her back and chest, cooling the heat rising between them just a little.

Had he (had _she?)_ ever thought this would happen when he found her back then, on her first day in the country, lost and huddled beneath a bus stop? When he offered her his own umbrella, insisting on walking home alone in the rain, only to find her moved into the apartment next door?

She pulled away first, the instinct to breathe winning her over just long enough, and she stared at his face, flushed cherry red like her own as one hand slipped out of her hair, the other sliding back down her back, both falling back to their places by his side. Momo, too, loosened her grip on him, half-heartedly straightening and smoothing her clothes back out.

Todoroki blinked as she took a tiny step back, the tears already slowing on both of their faces. Momo bit her tongue as she looked at him, really _paid attention_ to the way he looked standing there in the dim tea room, the only source of light a window on a cloudy day. She took another step back, fighting the urge to reach out and _touch_ him again with every screaming fiber of her being, then another, and another, and before she knew it, she had run out the door without a goodbye.

"Princess?" Kyouka said as she left, but Momo could barely hear it, so lost and afraid was she.

 _You can't run any farther than home._

The soft breeze of the evening air caressed her cheek as she lay in bed, the heat of their flame still cooling in her heart. Dying slowly, slowly…

* * *

 ** _Author's Note i._** _I meant for this to be a drabble but oh no things got out of hand. Originally pitched this about a month ago, when episode twelve of_ tada-kun wa koi wo shinai _came out and I just had a MIGHTY NEED to write an au of it. Ofc I don't have the time for a full multi-chapter, but I got this and the follow-up happy ending chapter out in a day soo. I guess. i'll publish that next week._

 _That being said I think my ego is getting too inflated please roast me in the reviews. Thank you for reading; I hope you have a greaaat daaaayyyy~~_


	2. i live again

**Word Count:** 1,419

* * *

"Todoroki?"

Shoto turned, still lost in a daze, at the sound of his name. How long had it been since Kyouka ushered him out of the palace, promises of delivering the coffee bouncing off his ears? How long had he been wandering these strange roads in this strange country, all wrapped up in a strange world he thought he had known?

How long had Kaminari been standing there, staring at him with disbelief, as it snowed?

It had been stupid, of course, to hope that she would be the one calling out to him. With that voice, that casual mention of his name; it never could have been her. But she lit a flame within his heart today, as small and delicate as it may be, and there was nothing in this world that would let it go out.

"Are you… _crying,_ man?" Kaminari asked, taking a hesitant step forward.

If he was, Shoto blinked the tears away right then. "What are you doing here? We have school," he said dully.

"I could say the same to you," Kaminari replied, almost laughing as he did so. "Your grades are better than mine."

"Why are you here," Shoto repeated, feeling tired, run dry almost.

"Couldn't let you have all the fun, right?" the blond quipped, catching up in seconds. "Midoriya was worried about you leaving on your own, but he has that training thing going on with All Might-sensei, sooo…"

"And you, with your bottom-of-the-class grades, were clearly the best choice to miss school following me," Shoto deadpanned.

"Ehhhh, let's not talk about that," Kaminari said, lightly steering the conversation away from him. "Anyway, how have you been? Did you get to see Yaomomo yet?"

Shoto stopped walking. A bitingly cold breeze blew across the two boys, strong enough to sting their cheeks, but Shoto couldn't feel a thing.

Kaminari stopped shivering to notice, his light-hearted façade falling away as he peered at Shoto. "Hey, man," he said gently, tugging on his friend's coat sleeve, "let's go back home."

 _The vision of her face, stained with the both of their tears, crumpling into confusion, anxiety, and rue before she ran without a word, burned into his memory._

* * *

Spring was a time when the world would come to life again, when new feelings would bloom in the air like cherry blossoms and float like snow through the atmosphere.

A little over a month had passed since Shoto came back home, and even he noticed he hadn't been the same since. Fuyumi never said anything, Midoriya still gave him concerned looks, but no one else seemed to even bat an eye. As if Momo's brief stay had but a passing breeze, and nothing more.

He was glad school was out for the spring. Shoto never had quite gotten the hang of the ends of school years. Too many girls kept coming up to him, asking him to be their boyfriend. He never knew what to say to them. _I'm sorry? Thanks? Nothing?_ No one had caught his eye before last year, and no one since last month had come even close to capturing his heart.

" _You could at least have turned them down more gently,"_ Midoriya would often chide, but it never made a difference to Shoto. A rejection was a rejection, right? He at least tried his best these days to say goodbye.

Lately, Shoto had found himself staring at the cherry blossom trees lining the road home. They were pretty, but fleeting. Nothing that he would have paid much heed before, but things had changed, he'd already noticed. Perhaps their beauty was held in the fact that they were fleeting.

A fat drop of rain made itself known when it splashed upon his nose. With nothing more than a sigh, Shoto shuffled away to a bus stop not too far off, knowing all too well it would be fine shelter until the shower passed. Sure, he'd gone home in worse storms, but he didn't feel that same drive now.

Sometimes it was just nice to sit and admire the rain. Cats often liked to curl up at your feet when you were relatively warm and dry in the cold and rainy weather. That was always nice. It was so easy to just get lost in the moment, feel your heart rate slow. The sweet scent of petrichor oft left one feeling refreshed as the morning dew as it mingled with the damp fragrance of flowers in bloom. Combined with the soothing pitter-patter as the droplets hit the ground, it was one of Shoto's favorite settings.

It was easy to ignore the light splish-splash of someone dancing in the rain. It was easy to ignore the light, not-quite-right humming as it drifted through the air. It was easy to ignore the wrenching of his stomach— he was probably just hungry, that was all.

But the splashing stopped right in front of him, the humming was the loudest right in front of him, and he couldn't help his curiosity opening his eyes for him. There was a person with an umbrella standing right in front of him, and he couldn't fathom why until he saw her standing right in front of him, a lighthearted smile upon her face as she twirled his old umbrella in her hands.

"Momo?" he breathed as he sat up properly, scared he may blow away some poor illusion if he spoke any louder.

The girl laughed, taking a step backward so that he could have some space. Her laugh was like a wind chime, happy and tinkling in the bitter weather, and something stirred within Shoto once more. "Of course, Todoroki-san!" she said, and she held her hand out, inviting him to join her out in the open.

Bewildered, he took it, and she pulled him onto his feet. She always had been astonishingly strong for her build.

"I came running back to you," she said, pulling him around in circles with her weight. "I don't know if that was the best or the wisest decision in the world, but I felt a duty to my heart. I never told you how I felt in return, so." The two slowed down, and Shoto, despite being thoroughly soaked by that point, joined her under the umbrella. Momo smiled as she handed it off to him, and for a moment, Shoto didn't quite understand what was going on. "I like you, Todoroki Shoto! Please, be my boyfriend."

Shoto's breath caught in his throat. All these times, and he still didn't know how to respond to confessions. Even if it was from a girl he liked back. "But what of your people? Do you not have a duty to them as their princess?"

"I never said I was forsaking them by finding you," she replied, staring up at him with those pretty, black eyes of hers. "A leader often has many duties, but a good one never neglects any of them."

That was it, the straw that broke the camel's back. For all he had been worth, Shoto had held back for the last month, held everything in with the hope that one day, it would all just go away, and he could go back to normal again. And now, to hold the source within his hands left the floodgates cracking open.

Momo cocked her head at him, then parted her lips as if to ask a question, but the chance for it to escape never happened.

He didn't care that he was bad with words because dammit, it had always been easier to _do_ things instead. He didn't care they were still in public because there was no one around to see. Hell, he didn't even care that it was raining and he was sopping wet and if he did this now, the umbrella would in all likelihoods fly away. To give her the answer he felt she so deserved was worth it all and more, and he could feel it, taste it in the way she returned his kiss.

" _I think I love you,"_ was drunkenly mumbled at some point, and he could feel her light snort brush up against his cheek. It felt nice.

" _That's good,"_ she whispered in reply, her arms circled around his neck. " _I think I love you, too."_

Springtime. _Bliss._

* * *

 ** _author's note ii._** _i have like negative patience so ofc i can't wait until tuesday to post this when i'm already finished. tbh not 100% on board with that ending. definitely the hardest part of this. (lol bonus ending where dekusquad comes in and sees tdmm making out in the park (lol no)) why is this a two-parter instead of a oneshot? because i wanted to separate the pov's and also end on angst._

 _anyway yeah. can't really believe there were no roasts? not sure how to feel about that. thank you all for reading; leave a review if that's what you're into, and as always, have a greaaaaat daaaayyy~~_


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